Ovchinnikov and Oper ruled out

Russia and Estonia have each lost key men before their UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying matches on Wednesday night.

Chance for others
The Russians will be without goalkeeper Sergey Ovchinnikov for their trip to Georgia. Ovchinnikov, who has featured in all three of their qualifiers so far, has suffered a recurrence of an old knee injury, which means a chance for either PFC CSKA Moskva's Veniamin Mandrykin or FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast's Valeri Chizhov to take the No1 spot.

Going well
"I do have an idea of who will be our goalkeeper in Georgia," said Russia coach Valeri Gazzaev. "But there is still time before the game, so I will decide on it later." Gazzaev is also without Andrei Solomatin for the match in Tbilisi, which will now not be played behind closed doors after a UEFA ruling, and has replaced him with Anton Rogochiy. Russia are second in Group 10, with six points from three games, while Georgia are bottom with one point.

Oper out
Estonia's problems are at the other end of the pitch with star striker Andres Oper ruled out for the match in Andorra. The Aalborg BK player aggravated a long-standing thigh muscle injury during a Danish league game on Sunday and has had to withdraw from Arno Pijpers' squad

No choice
"I was looking forward to the game, as I always want to play for my country," said Oper, who has scored 23 goals for his country. "So this is very frustrating, but I have no other choice than to withdraw." Pijpers has not called up a replacement for Oper, but has added defender Dmitri Kulikov in the absence of Raio Piiroja. Estonia are fourth in Group 8, with two points from their first three qualifiers while Andorra have yet to claim a point.

More success wanted
Slovenia will look to cement their hold on second place in Group 1 when they travel to Malta. Bojan Prašnikar's team have six points from their first three games, but look unlikely to catch leaders France who have nine more points.

More worries
Defender Spasoje Bulajic will definitely not figure for Slovenia after he was injured playing for German club 1. FSV 05 Mainz at the weekend. Damjan Oslaja has been called up while Prašnikar also has worries over Ermin Rakovic, Goran Sukalo and Miran Pavlin. "I do not expect a negative game from Malta," Prašnikar said. "They will surely try to win."

Points needed
Malta are bottom of the group with no points from five games. With no injury worries, Malta coach Siegfred Held can concentrate on getting his side off the mark. "Our immediate target is bagging points," he said. "Our last match against France [a 6-0 defeat] was a total disaster."

Welcome boost
Israel received some good news before they play Cyprus in the other Group 1 match on Wednesday. Maccabi Haifa duo Adoram Keisi and Alon Harazi have recovered from injury concerns. However, Hapoel Tel-Aviv defender Yigal Antebi will miss out with a hamstring problem and Racing Santander's Yossi Benayoun may not play after failing to join the squad over the weekend. Both teams have four points, although the Israelis have played a game less.

Great start
The final qualifier this week sees Latvia welcome San Marino in Group 4. The Latvians have started their campaign in excellent form, taking top spot after collecting seven points from their first three games. San Marino are bottom with no points from four matches.